I expect this clinic is very good for regular/routine matters. A friend of mine is lower income,…read moreand they give her a break when they can (unlike her experience at another Vet we used to go to). However, we had a bad 2.5 years at Bay Dog Hospital with our complex needs dog. He has a pacemaker and seizures; this summer, he could have died from a very aggressive head infection which they did not spot during an exam because they did not look in his ear.
I thought I made it clear when I made our first appointment that we expected to see the owner/lead vet when we brought him in for his first annual, but Gabby was on an emergency that day. Perhaps there was a miscommunication? In any event, I made it absolutely clear that day that we wanted to see only a senior Vet, and the same Vet, going forward. She was not available for booster shots six months later or 18 months later, or for the next annual. Every time we brought our dog, it was a different Vet.
Almost never did Vets or techs introduce themselves to us; we are friendly folks and found this discourteous. One of the "vets of the day" suggested that our dog have his teeth cleaned, and when we reminded him that our dog has a pacemaker and so, special care would be needed in sedating him, we never got a call back.
One day this past summer, I realized that my dog was somewhat listless...normally bounding with energy, he did not want to walk much. I made an appointment for that day but while my husband was driving to the clinic, they called and told us to go to University of Guelph!! I said "well, it's nothing to do with his pacemaker; I contacted Guelph and they said we just need a regular Vet; he is coming!!" (Imagine being rejected and told to drive two hours!) We were charged over $650 for an exam and tests; the vet told my husband that she had done a "full exam".
The next morning, Finn could not pick up a ball in the park. he laid down and I sat beside him; stroking his ear, I noticed it was full of stuff...I touched it briefly and liquid shot up under my fingernail: the whole ear was full of dark goo!! I carried him all the way home, so distressed.
We phoned the vet office; a rude receptionist said "you are paying this time!"....we hadn't even mentioned money...just wanted to bring the dog back! The male tech dragged Finn around the parking lot when Finn would not walk w him to give a urine sample. I asked him to stop but he was so angry. Jerk! The vet of the day cleaned a large quantity of pus out of Finn's ear; she did not charge us. That was Saturday. By Thursday we rushed Finn to the Vet Emergency Clinic for emergency head surgery: the infection in his ear had spread to his eye and his jaw...
Imagine if we had simply relied on the statement that a full exam had been done! Thank God my dog laid down so I could stroke him and spot the mess in his ear!
Some time later, my husband had a chat w the owner, who said that they had not felt comfortable dealing with Finn. Why didn't you just tell us that, rather than pawning us off on the vet of the day, trying to turn us away in an emergency, and not even looking in the dog's ear out of fear.
We are on our fourth Vet now. He did a cardiology rotation in Guelph and feels quite comfortable dealing w our dog. He refused to charge us for a rabies shot recently...he'd felt badly that the paperwork was unclear (he is our fourth Vet now; the first one (who may have damaged Finn's heart during the neuter operation) is no longer practising). He, like the other three Vets we've been to apart from this clinic, always makes his appointments.
Feeling a bit battered, but grateful to be dealing w our new Vet instead of a clinic that could have courteously asked us to move on...even given us a referral...rather than trying to avoid us during an emergency, and claiming to have done a full exam.
I can bet that "difficult client" is written all over our file at Bay Dog Hospital, but we simply love and want to protect our complex needs dog. Wouldn't you?
